Japanese gives $100,000 to research hair lips

JAKARTA (JP): Japan is donating US$100,617 (Rp 238 million) to Indonesia to bolster the latter's ability to treat patients with hair lip and cleft palate.

The note for the agreement was signed by Japanese Ambassador Taizo Watanabe and Halimah Bambang Trihatmodjo, the chairwoman of the Harapan Kita Foundation which runs the Harapan Kita Children and Maternity Hospital in Jakarta.

Hair lip and cleft palate are congenital deformities which cause the separation of the lips and/or upper jaw.

Director General of Medical Services Suyoga, who was present at the signing ceremony, could not give an estimate of the prevalence of the disease in Indonesia. "But we often find 100 cases in one regency in a day," Suyoga said.

Experts are still baffled as to the cause of the disease but believe it could be either poor nutrition and living conditions or a genetic malfunction, he said. "We are still conducting research to prevent it spreading," he added.

The grant, which comes under the Grass Roots Grant Assistance Scheme, will be used to provide equipment to treat the disease at the Harapan Kita hospital. The hospital has a hair lip and cleft palate research center which is run in cooperation with Kyushu University in Japan.

Ambassador Watanabe signed another grant-assistance note worth $35,088 to assist in providing fresh water for Penyabangan Village in Buleleng, Bali. Village chief I Dewa Komang Adyana was present to also sign the agreement. (12)